Stories from the Center of the Universe

Tim Malamphy is a pinball lover and statistics enthusiast who enjoys the thrill of casinos, horse races, and odds games. Tim is also a volunteer mentor at Richmond's Swansboro elementary school. This episode, we hear about Tim's life, some of his stories, including how he grew up with eccentric golfer John Daly, and more.  Pictured: The Malamphy Family (L-R: Daniel, Tim, Wendy, Annie, and Brian)

Kyle Stephenson is a real estate entrepreneur and former football player for the University of Pennsylvania. This episode we talk about Kyle’s origins as a first generation Jamaican American, life in NJ, football, and how he got started with his first property that led to a 30 year career and a successful real estate company.

Mohammed Saeed served as an interpreter for the US Army for 7.5 years throughout the Iraq war. Born in Najaf, Iraq, Mohammed moved around the country during his upbringing, before eventually following his younger brother's lead in becoming a translator. After his years of service, he was able to leave for the United States in 2012, and became a citizen in 2018. He now happily lives and works as a...

When she was just a child, Anne Loeb and her family had to flee Nazi Germany, first to France, then to New York City in 1939 via the SS De Grasse.  This conversation, Anne shared her experience of Germany in the 30s, her flight, including the elation of reaching American waters, and the adventures she and her family have had in the States ever since. She now lives in the Washington, DC area.   We...

Steve Dunfee is a Green Beret, a 33-year Army Veteran, and now a law enforcement officer of 20+ years. This conversation, we discuss his Ashland origins, his path to the Army, and his journey through some of the most intense training the US Military has to offer. As a disclaimer, the stories Steve shares about Special Forces Assessment, Selection, and Q-Course are from decades ago, and should not...

Courtney Ferrell is a speaker, writer, poet, (and as of this podcast, a singer) with boundless energy, infectious positivity, and an inspiring willingness to not take life too seriously. This conversation, we talked about many things, among them being her TED Talks on coming of age, motherhood, spontaneity, how to get out of a speeding ticket, the miracle of existence, and more.   She is also star...

John Watts is an Australian-born veteran of both the Australian Army and Virginia Army National Guard, and he now works as a national security analyst and business consultant in Washington, DC. John joined us for an episode on to tell us about his life's journey so far in four poetically themed sections: "Horizons," "Serendipity," "Transitions," and finally "Wizards and Curtains". 

Shawn Peterson is a native of Hanover, VA, now residing in Atlanta. This conversation, we talked about Shawn's hobby of composing and producing music, his career development and progress, reflections on leadership, and the joys of being a dad. 

Davis Burnett knew early on that he wanted to be a police officer. He decided to leave his native California and join the Marine Corps just after high school, and eventually ended up joining the Montgomery Police Department as a police officer for 7 years. Davis shares his personal experience during that time and since, and the way his views on race and policing have evolved throughout the years. 

Roger Lee is Pod So 1's #1 super fan. He's the only listener we know of to have listened through every minute of our podcast, an undertaking which Paul and I would hesitate to wish on anyone. We brought Roger on to tell us his story - A 2nd generation Korean American, he grew up in Colonial Heights, son to a dedicated entrepreneurial mother who owned and ran Won's Wig Shop in Petersburg, VA. In ou...

Brenda Gilman, AKA Paul's mother, is a lifelong educator, first of Kindergarteners, then of college students (though what's the difference really). No stranger to hard work, she earned both her Master's and Ph. D. in education through night classes while raising her two kids. Brenda is also a natural creative, and has consistently practiced expression across a variety of visual arts her whole life...

Mason New is a writer, teacher, business owner, and US Marine Corps veteran. As a kid, Mason was afforded an excellent education, attending a private boarding school and later studying at Washington and Lee University. However, feeling the call of service and yearning for more life experience, he made the unexpected decision of enlisting in the Marines in his senior year of college. His father, a...

This special episode we have Amelia Lantz (AKA Daniel's mother) on to tell us about her Galveston, TX origins, meeting Daniel's dad, and her adventures in being an expat wife. Moving is hard; moving a family of six from Bolivia to England to Houston to Kuwait to Cairo is extremely hard, and it took a Herculean effort on her part to deal with the boxes and time zones and culture shock, all the whil...

Chris Stout is a reputed engineer, architect, and leader  in the Central VA tech scene. He joined us for an episode to talk about his origins, his time at Virginia Tech, starting his own company (with some advice for Daniel as he starts his own), his love of hunting, and how COVID has affected him and his family.

This week we've got a slightly different episode for you, featuring two guests we've already had on (Sarah Wall from episode 17 and Aaron Albrecht from episode 27) to weigh in on different issues as we enter this intensely political season. We brought these two on because they are both politically involved, and are on opposite ends of the political spectrum - Aaron on the left, and Sarah on the ri...

This week, Gray Lane is on to tell us about his experience at Virginia Military Institute - he got in touch with us after hearing Al Lester's episode (https://podso1.io/episode/32). We also talk about him growing up in VA, his career in private accounting, and more. 

Andrew Ting is a Malaysian Chinese Canadian American jack-of-all-trades but still master of a few. Over the course of his life, he's had the titles of art textbook writer, website designer, street musician, orchestral cellist, business consultant, painter, novelist, Harvard-educated lawyer, and college professor, to name a few. In our conversation, Andrew speaks with us about his origins, why they...

This week we’ve got Njeri Kershaw to tell us about her years of gymnastics as a kid, and her unexpected pivot into college rowing. We also hear about the importance of education as a theme in her family, and thoughts on her interracial marriage and race in America generally. We are rejoined by Ed Miller for the episode (you can check out the conversation with him in Episode 12).

Dale Fickett is the president and co-founder of RVA Works, a Richmond-based nonprofit that equips aspiring entrepreneurs with the knowledge and tools they need to start businesses. Dale was traveling Europe as a management consultant making bank, when he had an epiphany that ended up redirecting his career toward the non-profit world and eventually RVA Works. Dale tells us about said epiphany, and...

Over his 33-year Army National Guard career, Command Sergeant Major Carl Holcomb rose to become the State Command Sergeant Major, the highest ranking enlisted soldier in the Virginia National Guard, becoming the first black man to hold the position. He also spent 17 years as a correctional officer, and as you'll hear, had to de-escalate life-threatening situations for himself and the inmates. In....

This week we have Anne Kiefer, who joined us to speak poetically on her beloved city of New Orleans, and how the its festive spirits have been sadly dampened by the pandemic. Anne also went through COVID-19 at the age of 75, which was doubly harrowing because her doctors were unsure how to treat the illness back in early spring. She of course survived, and is now a cheerful plasma donor. We are al...

Rachel Adcock is a survivor of Hodgkin's Lymphoma and the author of the book "Pain with Purpose." Her experience with cancer, as well as a few other twists and turns, led her to write the book as an optimistic commentary on how difficult and painful situations in her life always ended up fulfilling a greater purpose. You can find the book "Pain with Purpose" on Amazon for exactly $8.03, and all pr...

Mark Hammerstrom (AKA Hammer) spent the first 18 years of his life in Metro Chicago with Summer trips to Florida to spend time with his grandparents. His grandparents happened to be friends with the charismatic and longtime manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Tommy Lasorda. As you'll hear, Mark has fond memories of Coach Lasorda. After high school, Mark went from the Chicago area to Georgia Southe...

Ross H Mackenzie is a helicopter pilot, published author and a retired Navy man. He also happens to be Paul's brother-in-law. During his 20 year US Navy career, he interdicted drug shipments in the Caribbean and cruised in the Persian Gulf as a Seahawk (SH-60) helicopter pilot. His published works include Brief Points: An Almanac for Parents and Friends of U.S. Navy Midshipmen, My Sailor Dad, and...

Al Lester and Kevin Flippen met through a mutual friend, but they deeply connected through their love of all things golf, which they discovered on a very rainy day a few years ago. While we plan to have both Al and Kevin on individually to hear their personal stories, We want to release their shared story because it includes their desire to start a golf-oriented podcast. We thought we could help.